Motion types of ancillary gestures in clarinet playing and their influence on the perception of musical performance

Abstract

Musicians’ body movements are considered to be a source of communication and to contribute to the perceived musical impression of a performance. The aim of this study was to analyse ancillary body movements of clarinettists in order to identify characteristic motion types used in performance and to investigate their influence on the perception of the musical performance. The body movements of 22 clarinettists were recorded using 3D motion capture. A cluster analysis was performed on the variances of the angles in the shoulders, arms, knees, the back and the instrument hold, in order to examine commonalities in movement patterns. Four different motion types were classified: predominant knee motion (PkneeM), predominant arm motion (ParmM), no specific prominent motion pattern (NoSMP) and overall low motion performance (LowMP). In a perceptual experiment, in which all audio-visual recordings of performances were presented with the same audio track, 154 participants were asked to rate 8 performances (2 in each motion type) on 5 evaluation scales. The results showed that different motion types had a significant effect on perceptual ratings, with the highest affective ratings given to those who performed with predominant motion patterns in either the arms (ParmM) or in the knees (PkneeM), and the lowest ratings were given for performances with overall low motion (LowMP). In summary, the categorization of four motion types supports a systematic analysis of commonalities in motions made during clarinet performances across players. In addition, these different motion types have been shown to effectively influence perception of musical performance.